Waxey Gordon

Irving Wexler (19 January 1888-24 June 1952), better known as Waxey Gordon, was an associate of Arnold Rothstein and a Jewish Mob boss from Philadelphia during Prohibition.

Biography
Irving Wexler was born on 19 January 1888 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, the son of Polish Jews. Wexler became known as "Waxey Gordon" during his youth, with the nickname "Waxey" coming from his skill at picking pockets as a young man. During the first years of Prohibition, Arnold Rothstein hired Gordon as a rumrunner, and he became a major crime boss in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, rivaling Manny Horvitz for control of bootlegging in the city. Gordon's spy Herman Kaufman was murdered by Horvitz and Jimmy Darmody in 1921 after Horvitz discovered his betrayal, and Horvitz and Darmody decided to go to war with Enoch Thompson when they discovered that Gordon was allowing for Thompson to transport liquor through the port of Philadelphia. After Rothstein's death in 1928, Gordon's power declined, and he began a gang war with Lansky, his rival. In 1933, he was arrested for tax evasion, but his release allowed for him to sell rationed goods and narcotics in the American West during World War II. In 1951, he was arrested for selling heroin, and he died of a heart attack in Alcatraz in 1952.